 Most popular sport in the world.  Earliest record: 11 th century England  Evolved from folk to popular culture.

 Origins are obscure, but first recorded event: 1042, England (hearth)  Excavators use a Danish soldier’s head for a ball  Ball evolves to an inflated cow bladder.  Evolved to a “mob game” between local villages.  Local folk culture at this point.

 Clubs founded in 1800s England  Churches & Factory workers  Taught in schools  Professional players by mid- century  Soccer exported through colonization

 Folk: Traditional  Local start  Rivalries between English villages  Popular: Innovative  International organizations and rules  Adoption of modern technology

 Folk: communal  Village competitions  Local clubs  Popular: individualistic  Still communal event  Also, accessible at the individual level:  Video games  Stats analysis

 Folk: Slow  Local diffusion for many years  Spread slowly throughout centuries Popular: Fast Diffused internationally within several centuries

 Folk: Slow and Limited  Possible contagious diffusion within England  Popular: Rapid and Extensive  Hierarchical and contagious diffusion through colonialism

 Folk: Oral Communication  Small village contests  Contagious diffusion  Popular: Mass Media  Adoption of mass media and technology

 Folk: Highly Similar  Homogenous population  Popular: Highly Dissimilar  Heterogeneous population

 Folk: Limited  Limited to England  Popular: Extensive  International

 Rubenstein, James M. The Cultural Landscape: An Introduction to Human Geography. Tenth ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, Print.